Furcal finishes Cards' 9th-inning comeback over Marlins

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St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Rafael Furcal hit a game-winning, bases-
loaded single with two down in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday,
lifting the Cardinals to a 5-4 victory over the Marlins in the rubber match of
a three-game series.

The Cardinals loaded the bases twice in the inning, with Tony Cruz delivering
a sacrifice fly on the first occasion. Daniel Descalso then worked a 10-pitch
walk before Furcal singled through the left side of the infield off of Heath
Bell (2-5) to push across the tying and go-ahead runs.

"I've let the whole organization down...I had the worst first half I've ever
had and I think all my teammates can definitely blame me," said Bell, who
suffered his sixth blown save of the season.

Mitchell Boggs (2-1) earned the win, striking out Donovan Solano with the
bases loaded to end the top of the ninth.

"(The guys) are just relentless," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "They
just keep fighting and coming back. It was nice to do this at home."

Furcal also had an RBI single in the fifth for St. Louis, which enters the
All-Star break with a 46-40 mark, good for third place in the National League
Central.

Earlier, Austin Kearns gave Miami a 4-2 lead with a three-run homer in the
seventh inning. Hanley Ramirez scored a run in the first for the Marlins, who
hold a 41-44 record at the break.

Cardinals rookie Joe Kelly left the game with the lead, giving up one unearned
run over six innings, but the bullpen failed to maintain the advantage.

Maikel Cleto allowed a one-out double to Omar Infante, then walked John
Buck before Kearns belted a slider from Victor Marte over the fence in left-
center for a 4-2 lead.

Kearns was batting for Anibal Sanchez, who allowed two runs on five hits
over six innings. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.

Ramirez gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead when he stole third and came home on
Cruz's wide throw into left field. The catcher atoned, doubling and scoring on
Furcal's base hit in the fifth, then adding an RBI in the final frame.

The sac fly to left came after a single by Allen Craig, a ground-rule double
by Matt Carpenter and a walk to David Freese.

Craig also doubled and scored on a single by Skip Schumaker to tie the game in
the second inning.

Game Notes

The teams completed their season series on Sunday, with the Cardinals winning
five of seven...Kelly, 24, hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his
six starts this season...Greg Dobbs and Logan Morrison both extended their hit
streak to 11 games for the Marlins.